I'm currently rereading Bloodstone and Dark Crusade, as I've finally been able to get my hands on Karl Edward Wagner's third Kane book, Darkness Weaves. I'm pretty excited about finally getting to read it. I've had the first two books for ages. KEW's Kane books are a must-read for the pulp-fantasy fan, if you ask me.
After that I'll be reading Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. I can't believe how prolifent Pratchett is--what is he averaging, about two books a year? Amazing!
I've also got a stack of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman books that I'm really looking forward to reading.
Yesterday I read The Time Traveler's Wife, by (and I'm sure I'm misspelling this) A. Niffenegger. It was an interesting book, sort of an over-glorified romance novel with an interesting time travel twist, but it managed not to be goofy, and the only thing I disliked was the ending. I ended up liking the characters and enjoying the quirkiness of the relationship in the story, but dang, the ending pissed me off.
Anyway, here's a quick set up of the story. The main character, Henry, has a condition that causes him to time travel at random. Most of the time he'll be in the present, but every week or so he might hop into his own past or future, bodily teleporting through time so there are briefly two of him at once, in completely different parts of the country. The reason behind it isn't that important; it's just an excuse for us to see a story of 'love that transcends time.' When he time hops, he goes to moments that are emotionally important to him.
For instance, when he's older, he ends up time traveling back to see his future wife Clare when she was very young, so Clare first meets Henry when she's 6 and he's in his late 30s, though in a straight timeline he doesn't meet her until he's 28. He keeps on visiting her at different times, forcing her to not look for him until she actually runs into him. There are some fun moments along the way as we see these people coping with the weirdness of the situation, and managing to fall in love even though the normal order of things gets messed up (like when the stress of getting married causes him to blink out before the ceremony; thankfully an older version of him shows up to go through the vows). But ultimately, the ending left me frustrated.
Throughout the book, it's clear that you only get to choose what you do the first time around, so if Henry gets in trouble, a future version of him can't go back and warn the original version of him, though one time a future Henry meets with present Henry in the late 80s and tells him to buy computer stocks. It bends the mind a bit, but there aren't any paradoexes. The whole freedom of choice/predestination thing is discussed. Like, Clare knows by the time she's 14 that the guy who's been popping into and out of her life is her husband in the future, so does she really have a choice when he asks her to marry him 10 years down the line?
Spoiler:
The problem is, there are no paradoxes, so when a time traveling Henry in the future looks up his own death certificate, and we figure out how his death will happen, there's no way to avoid it. And the death is horrible, depressing, and you'd think that if there were one thing you'd try really hard to avoid, it'd be getting shot randomly when you're 43. It didn't feel like he deserved to die; in fact, by the end of the story he's got a nice, happy family and circle of friends, and I wanted to end the story on a happy note.
Instead, we end with Clare, 40 years after her husband's death, having a conversation with him when he time hops into her presence. But we don't get to hear the conversation or see what happens, so the last emotion we feel in the story is sadness, not love.
It's a romance novel, I know, but it was an engaging story most of the time, and sappy ol' me enjoyed it. I wanted a happily ever after.
Just finished the Fencing Master by Perez-Reverte, same author that did The Club Dumas.
Currently reading Dragondoom by Denis L. McKiernan.
Next, I am circiling back to try and finish Dus Lo'Volt, a chonicle of the crusades.
Then there are:
The alphabet and the goddess
The Stars are Ours
Blood Meridian
Temple of Elemental Evil
Greyhawk: Tale of Old City
The Silver Call (Dennis again)
Tanya Huff's the better part of Valor
Sembia: The halls of Stormweather
Raymond E. Feists Magician
Larry McMurtry's Leaving Cheyanne
Treasure Island
Perez-Reverte's The Nautical Chart
Then Loius L'Amour's End of the Drive
Robert Harris' Pompeii
These are all the boks I have not read that I own.
However, there are some interlopers creeping in:
Eragon
The Thousand Orcs
The Lone Drow
(lots of realms stuff, mainly Denning and Niles, but I want to explore Greenwood just to see, I am thinking Spellfire for that.)
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson - supposed to be as good as Cryptonomicon but more accessible to a regular audience.
American Gods
The Thief Lord (and tons of childrens books) [Which are by the way some of the best fantasy writing, forget the "the big kids section"
Then there is tons of history and non-fiction that has caught my eye.
I work in a book store...
I need to learn to read faster.
It also occurs to me that a library card might be a good idea.
I liked the first book, even more so rereading it this time around. It's very different from the previous series. This one is much more personal as it is a war fought in the shadows, hence the series' name. It has the classic Feist central character of a boy who grows into a man amongst extraordinary events and tragic loss. Plus, it has many favorites from previous books: Pug, Nakor, Miranda, and some interesting new supporting characters. I'd pick it up, but that's just me, a Feist fan.
I have been considering it. I have tried starting it once before and, if I can't get into it, I will send it elsewhere. Deus lo'Volt is difficult to in that there is no overriding plot. Its just a bunch of stories from the crusades (fictional based on real accounts). So its slow going...
One thing I forgot to mention was the second half of the Lankhmar series. I thought I was done with the white wolf edition of "Lean Times in Lankhmar" but then I discoverd "Farewell to Lankhmar" and that lead to the discovery of "Return to Lankhmar" which I have had a devil of a time finding a copy! Luckily they released the mellinium edition on the other side of the atlantic and I was able to piuck that up.
I also forgot to mention Cunningham in my list of realms authors. I also want to finish the Justicar Series, just cause they are funny. As free strips from work, I got "Laughter of Dark Gods," and "Honor of the Grave." Both are warhammer novels. I also got "Death of the Dragon," "Keep on the Borderlands" and "The Tomb of Horrors" I know these last two are supposed to be "not so good" but I figure I would give them a try anyways.
